olfactory
dr. dolittle | July 23, 2014
Like Aesop's fable, rats have another reason to be envious of elephants. Elephants also have significantly more genes that can detect different smells (i.e. olfactory receptor genes) than other super-sniffers like rats and dogs. In fact, compared to 13 other species, African elephants have 1,948 genes related to smell putting them ahead of the previous record holder, rats that only have about half as many genes. Primates have much fewer with only 296-396 of these olfactory receptor genes. Interestingly, the common ancestor of mammals had 781 olfactory genes, meaning that primates have lost…
gregladen | May 26, 2012Elizabeth Norton has an interesting write-up in Science Now. Some years ago, after a long period of suspicion, it was seemingly demonstrated that neurogenesis (the formation of new neurons) happened in the human nose. This research was based on the identification of proteins that would be associated with the early formation of baby neurons. Therefore, it was not possible to prove that full grown and functioning neurons were being grown in the nose, but it was assumed to be a reasonable possibly.
However, it really isn't a reasonable possibility. If there was an Intelligent Designer, then…